1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of a transportable floating dock for personal watercraft such as one or more Jet Skis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a group of highly maneuverable and relatively fast vessels, one of which is sold under the trademark Jet Ski, which can carry one or two persons standing or kneeling on a base. The user holds the handle, which pivots the nose of the Jet Ski. The handle has the Jet Ski's throttle. A user turns the Jet Ski by leaning in the direction of the turn. The center of gravity of a Jet Ski is relatively high. There is a significant need for a floating dock which allows the Jet Ski to be parked at the dock and is designed so that the Jet Ski with a relatively high center of gravity will not tip over. In general, the concept of a dock for a Jet Ski is known in the prior art.
The following 9 patents and published patent applications are the closest prior art references which are known to the inventors.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,746 issued to Walters on Jun. 4, 1985 for “Flotation Collar” (hereafter the “Walters patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,820 issued to Klaus on Mar. 1, 1988 for “Floating Dock” (hereafter the “Klaus patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,899 issued to Culley on Mar. 29, 1994 for “Modular Floating Environmental Mooring System” (hereafter the “Culley patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 398,576 issued to Hillman on Sep. 22, 1998 for “Personal Watercraft Dock” (hereafter the “Hillman patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,727 issued to Elson on Mar. 2, 1999 for “Lift For A Personal Watercraft” (hereafter the “Elson patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,106 B1 issued to Eva on Aug. 13, 2002 for “Floating Drive-On Dry Dock” (hereafter the “Eva patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,577 B1 issued to Gates on Nov. 25, 2003 for “Portable marine Outhaul” (hereafter the “Gates patent”);
8. U.S. patent application Publication No. U.S. 2004/0028478 A1 to Lekhtman on Feb. 12, 2004 for “Modular Dock System” (hereafter the “Lekhtman patent”);
9. PCT Application No. PCT/NZ94/00033 filed on Apr. 15, 1994 for “Floating Dock” (hereafter the “'00033 PCT Application”).
The Walters patent discloses a flotation collar which is placed around the hull of a boat to improve the stability of the boat. The invention provides a method for forming an inflated flotation around at least a part of the hull of a boat, which method comprises positioning a longitudinal inflatable member along at least a part of the length of both the port and starboard sides of the hull; securing the terminal portions of the member so that the linear length of the gunwale over which the member extends is substantially fixed and so that the member is held substantially at gunwale level on the hull by securing means passing around and optionally over but not under the hull; and inflating the inflatable member whereby the expansion of the member causes the member to bear against the hull against the restraining effect of the securing of the terminal portions.
The Klaus patent discloses a floating dock for a Jet Ski wherein only the nose portion of the Jet Ski and not the lengthwise sides are retained by the dock. Therefore, although retained by a floating dock, the retention is in an unstable manner because the majority of the Jet Ski floats freely in the water. It is therefore easy for the Jet Ski to tip over or break loose from the dock and float away.
The Culley patent discloses a modular floating environmental mooring system. It accommodates a plurality of boats at circumferentially spaced, radially extending positions relative to a central dock member. The invention relates to a modular environmental mooring system of star shaped configuration to accommodate a plurality of boats at circumferentially spaced, radially extending positions with respect to a central dock member. The central dock member is of generally annular configuration which includes a plurality of segments, each having a planar outwardly facing end wall and a pair of planar sidewalls lying in spaced apart angularly disposed planes. As a result, only the nose of th Jet Ski is retained and the sides of the Jet Ski are not retained by this star shaped pattern dock.
The Hillman patent is a design patent which protects the shape of a personal watercraft dock. While it does show a lengthwise sidewall as well as a nose retaining portion, there is nothing in the design which permits the sides of the Jet Ski to be firmly retained within the dock.
The Elson patent discloses a lift for docking, supporting and launching a personal watercraft having a rearwardly tapering bow portion into, on and from, respectively, a body of water comprising a shell defining a cradle for supporting the watercraft thereon and having an open end for horizontally docking and launching the watercraft from and into the body of water.
The Eva, III patent discloses a floating drive-on dry dock assembly. It is assembled from two kinds of hollow floatation units, tall units and short units. The units are interconnected so that their top surfaces are substantially coplanar. The units are arranged to form two arms which support the hull of the craft on each side of the longitudinal center line of the craft. The entire length of each arm is made up of tall units except the distal end portions of each arm which may be made up of short units. The short units are able to flex downward as the craft begins to ride up on the dock because of the location of the connection between the adjacent units.
The Gates patent discloses a portable marine outhaul. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic view of a boat 10 moored in a body of water 12 between a sea anchor 14 and a land anchor 15 secured on a shore 18. The boat is attached at Point 19 to a portable marine outhaul that includes a line 22 journaled at a sea end 22a on a pulley 21a attached both to float 13 and to sea anchor 14, and at a shore end 22b on a pulley 21b attached to land anchor 15.
The Lekhtman published patent application discloses the concept of interconnecting dock modules together to create various shapes.
Finally, the PCT Application discloses a floating dock. It discloses a method of dry docking vessels comprising a floating dock comprising a main ballast vessel (3), a load supporting raft (2), a load supporting raft (2) and a main ballast vessel (3) being selectively attachable to each other, the main ballast vessel (3) and the load supporting raft (2) having separately variable buoyancy.
There is a significant need for an improved floating docking system which can stabilely and securely retain at least one Jet Ski in the water.